176 C. F. Tvicker Brooke, 



" The wilde Onele my Lords, is vp in armes, 

 With troupes of Irish Kernes that vncontrold, 

 Doth plant themselves within the English pale," 



perfectly describe the situation at the time of the action of the play 

 Henry O'Neill (d. 1489) was at this period a conspicuous figure in 

 Irish affairs, and was officially recognized by England in 1459. The 

 despatch of the Duke of York, in 1448, to quell the unrest in Ireland, 

 the remarkable success of the Duke, and the consequent devotion 

 of the Irish to his cause during the English civil wars were facts dwelt 

 upon at considerable length by all the chroniclers, and they had an 

 important bearing upon the fortunes of the Yorkist party. The 

 similar lines in Edward II, on the other hand, 



" The wilde Onele, with swarmes of Irish Kernes, 

 Lines vncontroulde within the English pale," 



must be regarded as a mere fabrication of the poet. No O'Neill, 

 living at this period, is regognized by the Dictionary of National Bio- 

 graphy. Nor was there an Irish rebellion at the time when Gaveston 

 was sent as governor to Ireland.^ 



Only four lines after the O'Neill passage in Edward II, Young 

 Mortimer cites another evidence of Edward's misrule (1. 970 f.) : 



" The hautie Dane commands the narrow seas, 

 While in the harbor ride thy ships vnrigd." 



Now history knows nothing, apparently, of any Danish interference 

 with the English seas during Edward II's reign. But the corre- 

 sponding line in the Trtie Tragedy (parallel 16) 



" Sterne Fawconbridge commands the narrow seas" 



alludes to a prominent actual character of the time and to an actual 

 situation. 



In these cases it would seem preposterous to believe that histor- 

 ically unfounded lines were needlessly invented by Marlowe in 

 Edward II, and that these lines were then later found to fit precisely 

 the historic facts presented in the Henry VI plays. The debt must 

 lie the other way, as the evidence discussed on pages 159 and 160 

 also suggests. 



' /. e., 1308/y. Later, in 1315, war broke out in connexion %vith Edwaid 

 Bruce's attempt to gain the Irish crown, and the O'Neills appeared on his 

 side (cf. T. F. Tout, Political History of England, 1216-1377, p. 270). At 

 this time Gaveston had been dead thi'ee j^ears. 



